Sybelle Timberlake

September 17, 1932 -December 6, 2017

Sybelle Timberlake, 85, passed away at 8:58 a.m. Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at her home in Urbana.

Sybelle was born on September 17, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to David and Frieda (Hollinger) Sherman. After earning a degree in psychology from Brooklyn College, she attended Hunter College and then began a career …read more

Sybelle Timberlake, 85, passed away at 8:58 a.m. Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at her home in Urbana.

Sybelle was born on September 17, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to David and Frieda (Hollinger) Sherman. After earning a degree in psychology from Brooklyn College, she attended Hunter College and then began a career in education, teaching elementary school in New York, and later in Chicago and then in Urbana, where she also taught special ed and taught English to students ranging from elementary school through junior college.

When she wasn’t working, Sybelle enjoyed a number avocations, including writing poetry and short stories (and even a few songs), painting and sculpting, Yiddish and international folk dancing, gardening, yoga and tai chi, and reading literature in English and Yiddish. She maintained a lively interest in her cultural heritage, enjoying reading Yiddish and contemporary Jewish literature, listening and dancing to Yiddish music, and participating in a weekly Torah study group. One of the highlights of recent years was a trip to KlezKanada, an institute for Yiddish/Jewish Culture and the arts, in 2008. She had always wanted to return and had made plans to do so this year, a plan sadly prevented by her final illness.

Sybelle is survived by her sons Elan Omessi and Josh Timberlake, brothers Rubin and Russell Sherman, husband Scott Rohde, five grandchildren, and four nieces.

Sybelle will be remembered as a caring wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend and will be sorely missed by all those to whom she gave so much.

A special thanks goes to the caretakers who watched over and comforted Sybelle in her final months.

A burial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, December 8 at Mount Hope Cemetery, Champaign with Rabbi Jody Cook officiating. A meal of condolence will follow.

Online condolences may be made at www.morganmemorialhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Yiddish Book Center, 1021 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002 or to the KlezKanada Institute for Yiddish/Jewish Culture and the Arts at: